Rep. Mike Coffmansaid last year he was going to try again to introduce legislation that would open up U.S. mining of rare earth minerals. (It failed in the Democratic House in 2009.) Coffman said it was especially important given a Chinese announcement that it was going to pare down its mining operation by 35 percent. Currently, that country supplies 95 percent of the minerals, which are used in everything from batteries to defense equipment.

Udall, this week, agrees with him. At least sort of.

Udall’s legislation directs the U.S. Department of Energy to begin research and development on critical minerals and materials in order to strengthen our domestic supply chain and directs the Interior Department to forecast the country’s future needs.

Coffman doesn’t wax so heavily on environmental concerns. Udall says only that, “we can’t lose sight of the need for balance between the demand for new materials and our stewardship responsibility for our natural resources.”

When the Obama administration announced that Boulder was one of six cities where they wanted to hear from small business owners and entrepreneurs about regulatory burdens, Rep. Scott Tipton’s office quipped that he had the idea first — and that Boulder wasn’t as good a venue as Grand Junction.

Tipton wants to do a study that will identify overlapping and conflicting regulations for small businesses. The Cortez Republican ran on addressing the way regulation is enacted and helping business owners.

“President Obama’s tin ear to private sector job creation is evident in his decision to hold a business roundtable in Boulder, rather than go someplace like Grand Junction where excessive regulation and barriers have resulted in unemployment numbers that rank amongst the highest in the nation,” said Tipton spokesman Josh Green.

In Denver yesterday, hundreds of Colorado union workers and their counterprotestors rallied over the Wisconsin governor’s decision to cut collective bargaining rights from state employees.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter, on a President’s Day weeklong recess with the rest of the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, took the festive opportunity to rip GOP House Speaker John Boehner.

Perlmutter sharply criticized the Republican-backed continuing resolution to fund the federal government through Sept. 30 which cuts more than $60 billion from the budget. The resolution passed along party lines at about 5 a.m. Eastern Time Saturday.

“While most of America was sleeping, John Boehner and the Republicans said “so be it” and essentially gave 800,000 people pink slips in the middle of the night,” Perlmutter said. “Saturday morning, the hardworking people in Colorado woke up to a scenario where good-paying, stable, private-sector jobs in our state will be wiped out for so many
engineers, scientists, teachers and construction workers.”

Udall is in Grand Junction today talking about designating the Colorado National Monument as a national park. Sen. Michael Bennetis circling the state talking about education reform and will appear on the PBS Tavis Smiley show to talk about the importance of good teachers.

Where are the jobs you promised, Mr. Boehner? It looks to me like you’ve had so much trouble trying to mollify the new extremist members of your caucus that you forgot that promise. America needs jobs, not job cuts.

Jim

Where are the jobs you promised, Mr. Boehner? It looks to me like you’ve had so much trouble trying to mollify the new extremist members of your caucus that you forgot that promise. America needs jobs, not job cuts.

Lynn Bartels thinks politics is like sports but without the big salaries and protective cups. The Washington Post's "The Fix" blog has named her one of Colorado's best political reporters and tweeters.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.